Grilled Trout with Orange and Fennel Salad

Every year, through work, I buy a few fresh trout from the Australian Rainbow Trout Farm in Macclesfield. Its a fantastic distraction form work, we get to drive all the way out to the Dandenong Ranges, enjoy the last remaining sunshine of autumn and stop along the way to get some snacks from the local bakeries. Its a great day out, especially when its still counted as working!



For a picnic I had made a salmon and fennel salad and ended up with a lot of unused fennel and salad, all the salmon got eaten. So I decided to simply grill the trout and pair it with a very traditional fennel and orange salad. Daz is not a fan of adding fruit to his salad, he doesn't seem to mind apple pieces and walnuts, but oranges just don't get a chance. Those poor oranges have been discriminated against for too long!! Luckily he didn't grow up in my family, where this salad was pretty common.



Daz and I are quite lucky, in that the previous owners of our house were migrant Italians, so there are plenty of fruit and citrus trees in our back yard. I've planted quite a few herbs, so whenever I get the urge to make something, a lot of the fresh ingredients are not too far away. I'm surprised that most things in my garden are still alive, I'm a terrible gardener - you only have to ask Daz about the doomed bonsai to find that out - it lasted 3 weeks before it decided death was more appealing than being looked after by me!

Instead of serving this whole you can cook the trout in advance and then flake big chunks into the salad, great for a warm day - which I don't think we'll be seeing again for a little while.



Grilled Trout with Orange and Fennel Salad
Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

2 medium sized trout, gutted and cleaned
1 lemon
1 bunch of parsley
1 medium sized orange
1 small fennel bulb, sliced very thinly, include a few fronds
a few handfuls of mixed salad leaves, I like using pea shoots to add a bit of sweetness
a few tsp butter
good quality olive oil
salt and pepper

METHOD

For trout

1. Rinse trout well and remove as much of the slimy outer film as possible. You can wipe them down with a bit of vinegar to remove more of the slime, but its not necessary.



2. Lay on a large grill pan, and score the skin with a sharp knife, season the inside and out side of the fish. Stuff the cavity with parsley and thinly sliced lemon. Drizzle some olive oil onto the skin and grill until skin turns golden and the eyes are opaque. Once the skin is golden add a little butter and return to grill, allow the butter to melt and crisp the skin further (optional step)

For Salad

1. Combine mixed salad leaves and sliced fennel. Segment orange and add to salad mix. Squeeze the segmented orange to extract as much of the juice as possible. Add olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Serve on a large white plate and enjoy in the sun!